A3 Book section, Chapters in research books
Fatness and Consequences of Neoliberalism (2021)
Harjunen, H. (2021). Fatness and Consequences of Neoliberalism. In C. Pausé, & S. R. Taylor (Eds.), The Routledge International Handbook of Fat Studies (pp. 68-77). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003049401-11
JYU authors or editors
Publication details
All authors or editors: Harjunen, Hannele
Parent publication: The Routledge International Handbook of Fat Studies
Parent publication editors: Pausé, Cat; Taylor, Sonya Renee
ISBN: 978-0-367-50292-8
eISBN: 978-1-003-04940-1
Publication year: 2021
Publication date: 18/04/2021
Pages range: 68-77
Number of pages in the book: 294
Publisher: Routledge
Place of Publication: Abingdon
Publication country: United Kingdom
Publication language: English
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003049401-11
Publication open access: Not open
Publication channel open access:
Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/78462
Abstract
My aim in this chapter is to inspect how neoliberal economic policy and rationale are enmeshed with conceptions of body, gender and health in the contemporary (primarily Western) cultural sphere and how they have been addressed in research literature, particularly concerning fatness and the fat body. In recent years, the fat body has been and is a target of intensifying biopolitical control. My point of departure is that different elements of neoliberal culture have found something to latch onto and exploit in the concept of the fat body. Social institutions such as health care policies; or structures, such as health care systems; not to mention social, moral, and political orders of the day, all contribute to the conceptual (as well as physical) shaping of fat bodies. In the age of neoliberalism, even biopolitical control is neoliberally attuned (Lemke, 2001). I will present how neoliberalism has come to inform and steer our understanding of bodies, how we live in them, and the relationship we are supposed to enjoy with them. My goal here is twofold. I will look at the ways in which the fat body has been made intelligible in the broader context of neoliberal culture. Secondly, I am interested in the role of neoliberalism in moulding “acceptable” and “unacceptable”, healthy and unhealthy gendered bodies and subjects.
Keywords: obesity; neoliberalism; health policy; values (conceptions); social norms; self-leadership; cost effectiveness; biopolitics; intersectionality
Contributing organizations
Ministry reporting: Yes
Reporting Year: 2021
JUFO rating: 3